The Moving on Song Songtext
von Ewan MacColl

Born in the middle of the afternoon
In a horse drawn carriage on the old
The big twelve wheeler shook my bed
"You can′t stay here" the policeman said

Born at potato picking time
In a noble tent in a tatie field
The farmer said, "The work's all done
It′s time that you was moving on"

You'd better get born in some place else
So move along, get along, Move along, get along
Go! Move! Shift!

Born in the common by a building site
Where the ground was rutted by the trail of wheels
The local Christian said to me
"You'll lower the price of property"

Born at potato picking time
In a noble tent in a tatie field
The farmer said, "The work′s all done
It′s time that you was moving on"


Born at the back of a hawthorn hedge
Where the black hole frost lay on the ground
No eastern kings came bearing gifts
Instead the order came to shift

Born at potato picking time
In a noble tent in a tatie field
The farmer said, "The work's all done
It′s time that you was moving on"

The eastern sky was full of stars
And one shone brighter than the rest
The wise men came so stern and strict
And brought the orders to evict

Born at potato picking time
In a noble tent in a tatie field
The farmer said, "The work's all done
It′s time that you was moving on"

Wagon, tent or trailer born
Last month, last year or in far off days
Born here or a thousand miles away
There's always men nearby who′ll say


Born at potato picking time
In a noble tent in a tatie field
The farmer said, "The work's all done
It's time that you was moving on"

Six in the morning out in Inchicore
The guards came through the wagon door
John Maughan was arrested in the cold
A travelling boy just ten years old
Born at potato picking time
In a noble tent in a tatie field
The farmer said, "The work′s all done
It′s time that you was moving on"

Mary Joyce was living at the side of the road
No halting place and no fixed abode
The vigilantes came to the Darndale site
And they shot her son in the middle of the night